The History
This site started out as my strange obsession with Gilberto Silva. This combined with my ability to make websites, I decided to combine my obsessions to create something which all Gilberto fans could appreciate and enjoy. I wanted to create the biggest, most popular (and only) Gilberto website on the internet. This was in July 2004.
After a load of brainstorming, site mapping, design concepts, (and lots of coffee), the first version of the site was put live in September 2004. For a while, I got about one visitor a day.
I was trying to figure out how to make more people come to the site, so I added the site to lots of directories, websites and search engines. Soon after that, Gilberto fans started linking to Invisiblewall.net on various forums, and the site gained a slight popularity among Arsenal-supporting Gilberto fans.
In 2005, the site began to attract somewhere in the region of 20 visitors per day. As Gilberto became a more and more established Arsenal player, that amount slowly went up; and as he played in various Champions League games and international tournaments with Brazil, the site started to receive hundreds of visitors per week.
In early 2006, I began trying to get a short interview with Gilberto Silva. This proved almost impossible, until one day in July 2006 I got in contact with a helpful agent of Gilberto's, who organised an interview for me. I interviewed Gilberto on camera (you can watch the video here), and he told me he really liked this website. Randomly, he also signed my mandolin.
In early 2007, in an effort to continue the site's title as the most comprehensive Gilberto site on the internet, I visited Brazil on behalf of Invisiblewall.net. I visited Lagoa da Prata where he grew up, and Belo Horizonte where he established his professional career. You can read about my trip here.
In mid 2007, I heavily updated this site with help from a friend. I also added numerous goal videos to the site. This gained lots of popularity among visitors.
In late 2007, Gilberto invited me, as the creator of his website, to watch his last ever game in an Arsenal shirt. The reason he did this was to say thank you for all the work I had put into the website. I watched Gilberto help Arsenal to a 1-0 win, and after the game, he invited me to the players' lounge at the Emirates Stadium. Watch what I saw here. He also gave me the shirt that he wore during the match - what turned out to be his last ever Arsenal shirt. He signed it for me, and you can see it here.
Gilberto then moved to Panathinaikos, and Invisiblewall.net continues to track his progress while he plays in Greece. This site continues to receive hundreds of visitors per week - with most of them from the UK, Greece and Brazil.
The Present
That brings us to the present day. I think I have accomplished my goal of creating the biggest Gilberto site on the internet. (I still think it's the only one there, but that's beside the point). The aim of this site is to inform people about Gilberto Silva, and to provide entertainment to his existing fans.
Invisiblewall.net is 100% non-profit - and it's going to stay that way. I pay for this website out of my own pocket, and despite past requests from advertisers, I will never have adverts displayed on Invisiblewall.net.
The Future
I plan to keep adding content and updating the site to keep up with Gilberto's Panathinaikos and Brazil career. I'm also going to try and post every piece of notable Gilberto Silva news.
I also plan to visit Athens to watch Gilberto Silva play for Panathinaikos. When this happens, I want to post a report of the trip on this site.
Lovely Looks
The site looks nice thanks to Mikko Mensonen. He runs a website called The Eternity Project Website which he never updates.
Copyright notice
If I have stolen some of your images on the Gilberto Pictures page, then I am sorry. You can contact me and ask me to take it down, if that is what you really want. If I have stolen your video clip, then you are either lying; or you are the BBC. If you are the BBC, please do not sue me, as I have no money - and I make no money from showing Gilberto videos on this site... and you don't lose any money by people watching them. Thank you!
